POOR NIGERIANS TO INCREASE BY 15-20 MILLION IN THE YEAR 2022-WORLD BANK ESTIMATES
World Bank projects that the number of poor Nigerians will rise to 15-20 million people by the year 2022.
Gloria Joseph-Raji, the World Bank Senior Economist stated this on Tuesday at the virtual launch of the 2021 Macroeconomic Outlook of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, a private sector-led think-tank.
Joseph-Raji stated that the country is at a critical junction and direly needs to implement policies that will improve the business environment as well as improve the welfare of the average Nigerian, especially now that the COVID 19 pandemic has made Nigeria’s developmental goal of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030 more herculean.
Recall that Nigeria hit its deepest recession since the 1980s in 2020.
“We actually consider Nigeria right now to be at a critical junction in the sense that the achievement of its development goal of lifting 100 million people out of poverty by 2030 was already challenging even before COVID-19 struck, and then COVID-19 has made this even more challenging and more urgent.
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“We actually consider Nigeria right now to be at a critical junction in the sense that the achievement of its development goal of lifting 100 million people out of poverty by 2030 was already challenging even before COVID-19 struck, and then COVID-19 has made this even more challenging and more urgent.
“So, with lower growth and fewer jobs, and then coupled with high inflation, our estimates are that the number of the poor will increase by about 15 to 20 million people by 2022 from the about 83 million people in 2019. And the 2019 numbers are from the Nigeria Living Standards Survey of 2018/2019,” Joseph-Raji said.
Reiterating the stance, Dr Doyin Salami, the World Bank and the Chairman of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council Dr Salami also said the country must implement key reforms to get the economy out of the current doldrums.
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